Grammar: Word classes: Nouns: Noun formation

Forming nouns from other word classes

Introduction

Nouns can be formed from other word classes in four main ways:

	noun to noun
	verb to noun/-ing form
	adjective to noun
	clause to noun

Noun to noun

Many nouns can be formed from other nouns by adding a suffix. Here is a summary of the most common, organised according to whether the noun is abstract or concrete:

Abstract

-age	-dom	-ry	-ful	-hood
bag baggage	king kingdom	slave slavery	spoon spoonful	child childhood
-ing	-ism	-ocracy	-ship
farm farming	race racism	democrat democracy	friend friendship

Concrete

-eer	-er	-ess	-ette
mountain mountaineer	teenage teenager	waiter waitress	kitchen kitchenette
-let	-ling	-ster
pig piglet	duck duckling	gang gangster

Verb to noun/-ing form

We normally represent actions with verbs (run, multiply), but we can also represent actions with nouns and -ing forms (go for a run, running, multiplication).

Many nouns are formed from verbs by adding a suffix. Here is a summary of the most common, organised according to whether the noun is abstract or concrete.

Abstract

-age	-al	-ation
waste wastage	refuse refusal	educate education
-ion	-ing	-ment
decide decision	earn earning	amaze amazement

Concrete

-ant	-ee	-er	-or
participate participant	employ employee	employ employer	act actor